Stephanie Julian's Blog, page 21

Aliens? Really?

Okay, I have a serious crush...on Giorgio Tsoukalos.


[image error] Never heard of him? Obviously you've never seen Ancient Aliens on the History Channel. He's the co-founder of Legendary Times magazine and promotes the theory that aliens visited Earth in ancient times and helped build the pyramids, among other things.

The proof, according to Giorgio and the other experts on the show, can be found in ancient Egyptian temples, Mayan tombs, Indian literature and medieval manuscripts.

I love this series for how it pushes the limits of traditional archeology. The skeptics can argue all they want about how the theories posited by people like Tsoukalos and David Hatcher Childress and Graham Hancock are totally off the wall. But...traditional archeologists still can't agree on how the ancient Egyptians built the pyramid so who's to say the Egyptians didn't have help? They certainly can't disprove it.

I'll be glued to the History Channel tonight from 10 to 11 to watch "Ancient Aliens" as it premieres its second season, because not only do I love the show, but have you seen that picture up there?

A Little Light Reading

I ordered new books last week, new research books that should be here any day.

I write paranormal romance, so my research books aren't your typical research books. Sure, I love a good old college textbook about death practices in Etruscan Italy as much as the next research geek, but these books are much more thought-provoking.

Since I'm writing the Lucani Lovers series for Ellora's Cave, Konstantine's book looks really good but I'd read this one for pleasure. I love werewolves and I've created my own myths for them but there's always something more to discover.

I also ordered Hidden History, a book I classify alternate archeology. I love these books, so so many off-the-wall ideas just waiting to be sucked into my brain and tumbled around into a new story.

A Little Temptation

Here's a little tease for MOONLIGHT TEMPTATION, fourth book in the Lucani Lovers series (in progress as we speak).
Excerpt:
The guy's gaze narrowed as his head shifted to the side. "I'll be damned. Dane was right for a change."
Evie blinked at the man. Did he mean Dr. Dane Dimitriou? "You know Dane?"
"Unfortunately, yes." Then the guy smiled and Evie felt her heart do a funny little flip. "Hi, I'm Ryan Costa."She tried to ignore the rough silk of his voice but it rubbed against her skin, raising goosebumps even in the near-ninety degree heat.
The reaction startled her. The past few months of her life had been a jumbled mess. Thoughts and feelings she thought she'd conquered years ago had returned to plague her in the dark. She'd taken to sleeping with a light on.
And now her sex drive wanted to kick in too?
Christ, what the hell else could life possibly throw at her?
No, she better take that back. She didn't want to tempt fate. She'd actually met her. The Etruscan Goddess of Fate was one scary female.
Tightening her fists, she took a deep breath, hoping to douse the unwanted attraction. "Is your name supposed to mean something to me?"
She tried to force some strength into her voice but it still came out shaky.
His half-assed grin let her know she wasn't fooling him. "Not unless Dane told you to expect me. And knowing Dane, I'm sure he didn't. He's the master of the sneak attack, isn't he?"
Okay, this guy did know Dane personally because, yeah, that was Dane to a T.
She lowered her hands a fraction. "So you are…"
"Very pleased to meet you."
Her lips tried to curve into a smile, something she hadn't done a lot of lately. "That doesn't tell me why you're here."
The guy lowered his hand but kept his own easy grin. "To tell you the truth, I'm not quite sure either. But when Dane asks me to come meet a beautiful woman, I don't typically turn him down."
She blushed. "He told you I was beautiful?"
"As a matter of fa—"
A low growl rumbled behind Ryan, freezing her in place one second. In the next, she cursed her reaction silently.
She'd lived with the Etruscans long enough to know that the growl of a wolf should not make her want to run screaming.
Her gaze automatically sought the animal that'd produced the sound and found him sliding out from behind the trunk of a massive pine a few yards behind Ryan.
The large gray wolf moved so silently, she knew she never would've heard him if he hadn't growled. Lean and muscled, the animal had to weigh almost a hundred pounds.
She lowered her hands all the way as the wolf stopped at Ryan's side, his dark eyes glued to hers. Those eyes were human, eyes she knew, and that same shiver of sensation raced through her again.
She shook her head, trying to ignore it as she stared at the wolf she'd come to recognize on sight.
"Didn't trust me, did you?"
Ryan's voice held an edge of amusement that made Evie frown and pull her gaze back to Ryan's.
"Trust you to do what?" she asked.
Ryan's smile made her stomach do curious things but it could have been the second growl from the animal at his feet.
"Trust me to seduce you, that's what."

Books for Today, Books in the Future.

So I'm off to the bookstore today and I'm not coming home until I have these first two books in my hands.

Love, love, love Lora Leigh's Breed series. Been a fan for years so this is a no-brainer.

Now, the Meljean Brook buy is solely based on the strength of her story in the Burning Up anthology. It made such an impression that I can't wait to read this one. All the reviews I've seen have been rapturous so I have high hopes.

I'm also looking forward to Shayla Black's 4th book in her Doomsday Brethren series. Sexy, fun stories.

And then there's a new Nalini Singh Psy-Changeling book in November! Yeah.

So what are you looking forward to reading this fall?

What I Love This Week

New MCR is always cause for cheer!



Harry is a good man to have by your bedside.



And Col. Young totally does it for me

New release from Stella and Audra Price

Check out this new release from fellow Authors After Dark writers:

TO COLLAR AND KEEP
Book Two in the American Satyr Series by Stella and Audra Price

A surrender to the unknown has never been sexier.

Olanis, the summer holiday is upon the Satyr clans once more and it is the time for Harlequin, prince of the Rummer clan, to claim his first and only female, the Grecian Satyr princess Arabella, sight unseen.

Unsure of what kind of woman his clan had brokered for him, he is both interested in the wom...

SIZE MATTERS release day and another excerpt

Here's another taste of SIZE MATTERS for release day.

Carrie couldn't tell by the look on Tim's face whether he wanted to laugh, sneer or shake his head.


She'd had her fair share of all three in the time she'd worked for the Journal.

Usually, she didn't give a rat's ass what other people thought. If they couldn't accept what she did as a legitimate form of entertainment, then they needed to loosen up or get a life. Or both.

Hell, many of the people who looked down on her job regularly devoured US...

M&M Makin' the Rounds:

Please welcome Michelle Pillow and Mandy M. Roth  to On A Moonlit Night.

Big thanks to Stephanie Julian for letting us come here and play today! We'll get started with our first Q&A.

Ms. Geeky Pants

Q: How do you feel about doing research for a book? How much or how little research do you do for each book?

Michelle: I LOVE LOVE LOVE research. LOVE IT! It's one of my favorite things about being a writer. I love learning and trying new things. I love mental challenges and figuring out how my char...

SIZE MATTERS excerpt

SIZE MATTERS releases Sept. 8. I'll be doing a lot of guest blogging around the web. I'll post that schedule next week. But until then, here's a little taste.
Excerpt:
The dark closed so tightly around them, she could barely see his outline but she moved both hands up and up his body until she finally reached his face. Wow, he must be really tall and she meant really tall because she was no slouch.
At five-ten—without heels which she wore anyway because she looked damn good in them—she...

What I Read This Week

I will buy anything with Virginia Kantra or Nalini Singh's name on it.

I love Kantra's Children of the Sea series. Her writing is lyrical and lovely and her stories always tug at the heart. They're extremely literate and if I could find another L word that means finely crafted, I'd use it.

And Singh's Psy-Changeling series makes me lose hours of sleep as well as hours of daylight when I fall into her world. It's intricate and completely engrossing, and her love stories are hot as hell.

I haven'...